Beauty of roses

Winner

There are many beautiful flowers in the world. Among them roses get special attention from many people because they are beautiful.In fact, the rose is the national flower of England. However, it is believed that the flower originated in China .

Roses are popular all over the world.They are given a prominent place at most national and social functions, especially weddings and funerals .

Roses are small flowers compared to some blossoms.The rose belongs to the Rosaceae family .The reason these small flowers are so popular and are given first place is their beauty and also fragrance.

Roses come in many colours such as white,pink,red,yellow and orange. There are roses of mixed colours too as they are being specially bred by gardeners. There are over 100 species of roses throughout the world. Roses have a long history.

The Greeks and Romans are known to have used them to make flower corsages. As the rose is the symbol of love,even today it is widely used to express emotion, especially love and happiness.

There is a huge demand for this beautiful flower which can be used not only as decoration or an expression of happiness, but also as a raw material to make perfumes, certain type of food,vitamin C and medicines too.

We can see plenty of these floweres in places such as Haputale, Nuwara Eliya, Matale and Kandy. Many people grow roses in their gardens or even have floral arrangements made of roses.

Nethmini Bandara,
Grade 9 G,
Mahamaya Girls' College , Kandy.

The changing sky

Winner

Sometimes you seem big
With white clouds like cotton
Sometimes you seem angry
Sometimes you seem bright
With grey clouds like demons
Like paint of many colours
Who are you?
No one can go up
Passing you
You are always up
You never come down
There are many myteries
In your body
Who are you?
I bet you will say
I'm the vast sky
When we see you
On quiet evenings
You seem like heaven
You calm our minds
But...
We never see where you end!

Anuththara Ekeli,
Grade 8 B,
Holy Cross College,
Gampaha.

Best of friends...

Winner

I have dozens of friends
Among them there is one buddy
She is there to share my sorrow
She is there for something to borrow
She keeps me up when I am down
She holds me tight when I'm broken down
We walk together on the streets
We learn together in the school
We have time to share our leisure
Which is always a great pleasure
Our friendship is a treasure
Which I am unable to measure

Pamoda Navanjana Dharmadasa,
Grade 9 C,
Rajasinghe Central College, Hanwella.

Our cultural heritage

Winner:

Sri Lanka is not just a speck in the world map nor is it a mere pearl-shaped drop in the Indian Ocean. Even though it is a tiny country it is mighty in its cultural heritage.

The ancient remains of the many kingdoms, the traditional rituals,customs and handicrafts and also the enchanting artistic creations such as traditional dance and music all combine to make our Motherland's unique cultural heritage.

The cultural heritage of our tiny island nation is like a legend that lives on. It dates back to thousands of years and is rich in history. Not many countries can boast of a cultural heritage and civilization as rich as that of our little country. Most ancient civilizations were built around rivers.As Sri Lanka too had a huge volume of water in the form of reservoirs such as the Kalawewa, the ancient kings built by damming rivers, the country was made self sufficient in rice. The country became famous as the 'Grannery of the East' during the reign of our ancient kings who were intellectually stimulated to do many great things.

The Sigiriya rock fortress with its famous frescoes,water garden and graffiti walls, the wood carvings of Ambekke Davale, the Abhayagiriya stupa , the rock carvings and statues at Gal Vihara are reflections of the creative skills and intellectual capacity of our heroic kings and ancestors. These have become great tourist attractions today.

.The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, the golden beaches and the vast stretches of green forest, such as the Knuckles range and the Sinharaja rainforest, (the latter has been declared a World Heritage site ), add to the rich heritage of our country attracting many visitors from foreign lands.

We are fortunate that we still have the opportunity to protect the rich and wonderful heritage gifted to us by our ancestors from being sacrificed to modernity.

Whether it is a mere stone in the ancient ruined cities or a grain of sand on our golden beaches, we must look after them and conserve them for generation to come.

Akila Janidu Priyankara,
Grade 9-F,
Mahanama College, Colombo.

I’m a lion at the zoo

Winner:

My name is Leo, I am a lion at the Dehiwala National Zoo. I am 14 years old. I cannot really remember my parents. I was a cub when I was brought into the zoo.

I actually hate cages. It is not like a jungle here. I guess it would be more free in the jungle than in this cage. I like to live in the jungle because I can do anything I want and live a normal life with the other animals.

As I am a lion I like to eat meat. If I were in a jungle, I would be able to hunt like any other lion living in the wild.

It is so distressing to live in a cage. However, sometimes I think it is nice to live in a cage. There is free food but no hunting or no fighting with other lions. Even though it is tough living in the jungle, I prefer to live in a jungle than in a zoo.The visitors that come to see me are great fun. But sometimes they can become a nuisance too. I hate it when they shout and scream. It makes me very angry and then I roar as hard as I can.

I still don’t know how I got here or who my parents are. But someday I intend to find the answers.

Someday I hope to go back into a forest. Then I am going to be the king in that jungle.

Sanjana Sithumin Hewavitharana,
Grade 7A, Prince of Wales College,
Moratuwa.

A child hero

Madduma Bandara is a famous Sri Lankan child hero. He was the son of Ehelepola Nilame and Ehelepola Kumarahami. Madduma Bandara had an elder brother and a baby sister.

He was only eight years old when he and his family members were to be executed under the orders of King Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe, the ruling king of Sri Lanka at that time.

They were to be killed because Ehelepola who was one of the ministers of the king did not obey him.

He was considered a traitor. Even though Ehelepola fled, the kings' men found him and the family and brought them to the palace to kill them.

The elder brother who was 11 years old was afraid; his lips were quivering and his eyes were full of tears. But, little Madduma Bandara was a brave boy. He loved his family and his motherland. He was not afraid to die.

When the King ordered to behead the elder brother he hid behind his mother, but Madduma Bandara stepped forward saying,"I will show you how to die".

He was willing to die instead of his family members. He ordered the executioner, clad in red, to kill him with one stroke. From that day Madduma Bandara became a child hero of Sri Lanka.

Nidula Chithwara,
Grafe 7-F,
Rahula College, Matara.